At least 40 people were killed and 115 were injured when fire ripped through a crowded bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana early Thursday as revellers celebrated the new year.
The blaze started around 1:30 am at Le Constellation bar, where more than 100 people had gathered, Valais cantonal police said. The venue has a capacity of 400 people.
In an update to the death toll at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Frederic Gisler, police commander in the Wallis canton in southwestern Switzerland, said authorities believe "around 40 people have died and at least 115 have been injured," many of them severely.
Officials said the identification of the victims will take several days and that they expect them to be of many different nationalities.
Those injured will "highly likely ... be transported to hospitals in neighbouring countries," they added, after offers of assistance came from Italy, France and Germany.
Gisler told reporters earlier on Thursday that "several dozen people" were presumed to have died and around 100 people had been injured.
"As I speak to you, all the injured are being treated," he said.
Guy Parmelin, who took over the Swiss presidency on Thursday, deplored a "terrible tragedy".
"What was meant to be a moment of joy has turned the first day of the year in Crans-Montana into a day of mourning affecting the entire country and beyond," he said on X.
On Thursday evening, Parmelin said at a press conference that the deadly New Year's fire is one of the worst tragedies the country has known.
The hospitals in Wallis were full and had declared a state of emergency, with the injured being transported to various hospitals across Switzerland.
Italian outlets reported that the death toll reached 47 by Thursday afternoon, citing local media, while 16 Italian nationals remain missing, according to the Italian foreign ministry.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he will travel to Crans-Montana on Friday. "If it's no bother, I will be at the scene of the tragedy tomorrow or the day after to be close to our fellow citizens," Tajani said.
"I have spoken several times with Prime Minister (Giorgia Meloni), who is also personally following the situation," he added in a special broadcast on Rete 4 TV channel.
At least two French citizens were among the injured, according to initial reports from the French foreign ministry.
French President Emmanuel Macron offered on X "France's full solidarity and fraternal support to Switzerland".
Probable cause fire, not terrorism
Police spokesman Gaëtan Lathion earlier said authorities were seeing many casualties. "More than a hundred people were in the building, and we are seeing many injured and many dead," he told reporters.
"We're just at the beginning of our investigation, but this is an internationally renowned ski resort with lots of tourists," Lathion said.
Earlier reports described an explosion, while witnesses spoke of candles or champaign bottles with sparkler being held close to the ceiling, but police later characterised the event as a fire of undetermined origin.
Swiss media reported the fire may have been caused by pyrotechnics during a concert, though authorities stressed the cause remains under investigation.
"The initial investigation shows ... the explosion was in fact a consequence of the fire," head of Wallis's security department Stephane Ganzer said.
"It wasn't an explosive device that caused the fire," he told reporters.
"As things stand, we are favouring the theory of a fire, and there is absolutely no question of a terrorist attack," stressed Pilloud, the prosecutor.
An institute in Zurich has been tasked with determining the cause after gathering witness testimonies and on-scene footage, authorities said at the press conference on Thursday evening.
Hospitals overwhelmed
Medical sources told local broadcaster RTS that hospitals across French-speaking Switzerland were overwhelmed treating burn victims.
Police, firefighters and multiple helicopters were deployed to the scene. Emergency services brought the fire under control while rescue operations continued.
Authorities sealed off the area completely and imposed a no-fly zone over Crans-Montana.
"The party was in full swing ... music and champagne flowing freely," a resident who said they lived nearby told 24 heures, a Lausanne newspaper.
But as news of the fire broke, they said, the carefree mood vanished and people began gathering in the street. "We could hear the sirens in the distance. Around me, people were stunned, worried, silent."
"We heard helicopters all night long," another neighbour told 24 heures.
"With the fireworks, we didn't understand what was going on at first. Then we saw the smoke. It's terrible, a lot of young people go to that bar."
One survivor, who spoke to AFP, said he was among the revellers at the bar when the blaze broke out.
"I was in the basement. Me and my friends were having fun, unfortunately some of our friends are no longer with us because of the fire."
"A lot of people were trapped. We couldn’t see because of the smoke," he said. "We didn’t know how we were going to get out."
"It was crazy. People were trapped. I had to put a table up to hide behind it, trapped by the blaze," he recalled, "but I managed to break a window and get out through the window.
"Half of my clothes were gone, it was crazy ... But I got out. That’s the main thing."
Crans-Montana sits in the Swiss Alps, some 40 kilometres north of the Matterhorn, or about two hours from Bern.
The upscale resort town of some 15,000 permanent residents attracts international visitors for its ski slopes, fine dining and lively après-ski scene.
Crans-Montana is scheduled to host FIS World Cup speed skiing events later this month.
